Statistics Bureau Says Nearly All Kidnappings in Mexico Went Unreported Last Year Roberto A. Ferdman - Quartz
go to original October 4, 2013

In Mexico, posters like these don't get very far. (Reuters/Tomas Bravo)

Few crime statistics are as sobering as the ones coming out of Mexico these days.

The latest public security report, (PDF, Spanish link) released by Mexico’s statistics bureau (INEGI) earlier this week, reveals the extent of the country’s rampant and virtually unpunished kidnapping problem. According to the report (p.21), a mind-boggling 105,682 kidnappings were committed in Mexico last year, of which an incredibly small 1,317 were reported to local or federal authorities. In other words, 99% of kidnappings in Mexico flew under the radar last year.

Many kidnappings are drug-related, and therefore often kept from authorities because victims involved in the drug trade want to avoid backlash or crackdowns on other offenses. But a good deal of the 100,000+ abductions went unreported on suspicion that nothing would be done, or worse, that more harm would come to the involved parties, according to local digital news site Animal Politico (link in Spanish). A survey taken by INEGI and included in the statistics bureau’s report found that millions of crime victims simply considered reporting crimes “a waste of time.”

Read the rest at Quartz

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